Washington--Greenpeace has placed ice sculptures of 100 children at the Temple of Earth in Beijing today, symbolizing the disappearing future of the more than 1 billion people in Asia who are threatened with water shortages by the changing climate. {1}

Photo by Shiho Fukada / GREENPEACE Made from glacial melt water from the source of Yangtze, Yellow and Ganges rivers, the melting sculptures mark the start of the 100-day countdown to the United Nations Copenhagen Climate Summit, and the launch of the TckTckTck campaign {2}, which is urging governments to agree on a fair, binding and ambitious deal at the Summit. At the same time, an ice sculpture in the form of the number "100" on a world map is also being unveiled in New Delhi to show "the world washed away" by glacial melts.

Photo by Lu Guang / GREENPEACE The Temple of Earth used to be where Chinese emperors prayed for well being and good harvests. "We are here today to highlight the catastrophic danger faced by our planet. The disappearance of the Himalayan glaciers threatens the fresh water supply of the one fifth of the world's population who live in their watershed. If world leaders don't agree to stop runaway climate change, children of today will grow up facing a constant struggle to secure reliable access to drinking water," said Greenpeace China Climate and Energy Campaign Manager Yang Ailun.

E2It is real concerned about climate change impacts like the threat to our water supply that is driving China and India to pursue a low-carbon development path that balances development and environmental protection," said Greenpeace India Climate and Energy Manager Vinuta Gopal. "If the developed world doesn't take the opportunity to support developing countries to both adapt to and mitigate climate change, then that balance won't hold and we will suffer an environmental catastrophe."

The latest scientific research shows that to avert catastrophic climate impacts, global greenhouse gas emissions need to peak by 2015 and decline after that in order to keep global temperature increase below 2 degrees Celsius. Greenpeace urges developed countries, as a group, to agree to cut emissions by 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2020. Developing countries must reduce their projected emissions growth by 15-30 percent by 2020. To support these cuts, funding from the developed world of $140 billion a year is critical.

"The future prosperity of the world is literally melting away," said Damon Moglen, Greenpeace USA's global warming campaign director. "With only 100 days to go before the Copenhagen Climate Summit, leaders around the world must take personal responsibility for averting climate chaos and stop the greatest threat to all of humanity."

 [1] Glaciers in the Greater Himalayas region (including the Qinghai-Tibet 
 plateau) provide 8.6 million cubic meters of fresh water annually to the 
 continent. The region is home to the headwaters of the Yellow, Yangtze, Ganges, 
 Brahmaputra, Mekong, Salween, and Indus rivers. As a result of the changing 
 climate, the Himalayan glaciers are shrinking faster than those anywhere in the 
 world. An IPCC (United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) report 
 indicates that if the world continues to warm at its current rate, 80 percent of 
 the Himalayan glaciers will disappear within 30 years.

 [2] Tcktcktck, which Greenpeace is part of, is an online and offline 
 mobilization which brings together an unprecedented alliance of faith groups, 
 non-governmental organizations, trade unions and individuals at this crucial 
 time to call for a new international climate change treaty at the UN Conference 
 of the Parties in Copenhagen, Denmark in December 2009. Tcktcktck will harness 
 the voices of people from around the world to call for an ambitious, fair and 
 binding international agreement that reflects the latest science. As December’s 
 meeting in Copenhagen approaches, Tcktcktck will organize around major 
 international meetings and other relevant events to demonstrate the support from 
 citizens around the world in having world leaders attend the negotiations in 
 Copenhagen and produce an ambitious, fair and binding agreement. 
www.tcktcktck.org